Stitch by Stitch
by HecateA
Summary: When Arthur hears of an old bridal superstition at work, anxieties about his own upcoming wedding start flaring. Oneshot.


**Author's note: **Enjoy!

**Hogwarts: **Assignment #2, Extinct Languages Task #2 - Ber er hver að baki nema sér bróður eigi: _Bare is the back of a brotherless man_. Write about a person proving their loyalty to someone they care for.

**Warnings: **NA

**Disclaimer: **The following characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and this story derives from her original works, storylines, and world. Please do not sue me, I can barely pay tuition.

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**Stitch by Stitch **

Molly had gotten home from her shift on St. Mungo's maternity floor long before Arthur—he'd sent her a quick patronus outlining that there'd been an emergency involving singing teapots and dancing sugar bowls. She had decided to take the empty flat as an opportunity; she made a pot of tea, found her favourite mug from its usual shelf, and opened the chest of white fabric and golden thread to work on her wedding dress some more.

She had already cut out the paper pattern, traced out the pieces she needed on the white chiffon, and cut them all out, which had been a long, painstaking process. She'd even sewed up all the back panels together—including the most lovely, discreet, hint of a train. She'd started with that, reckoning that it would be the most difficult part, and considered herself largely satisfied.

She had already created the long strips of lace that would create sleeves, after countless hours with a ball of white thread and the smallest crochet hook she had ever used. For a first attempt at lacemaking, she was quite proud of the delicate leaves she'd managed. She couldn't wait for Arthur to see how they looked now that they were more sleeve-like. While she'd been in the mindframe for such minute work, she had made more lace than the pattern called for to wear as a ribbon in her hair and line the dress' sweetheart neckline—one of the many small alterations she wanted to make on the original pattern.

Currently, she was wrestling with the tulle skirt she'd wear underneath the dress, trying to pinch the fabric as it was strapped to a mannequin so it would sit just right when she wore it. Every now and then, she let the tiered skirt fall back down to reevaluate it before inevitably fiddling with it again. She frowned in concentration with a mouthful of pins between her teeth, her measuring tape thrown across her shoulder, when the front door of the flat opened and in came Arthur.

"Hi sweetheart," he called. He sounded tired. She pulled the pins from her mouth.

"Hello," she said. "The kettle's just boiling again, what can I grab you to eat?"

"Nothing, dear," Arthur said, stumbling into the kitchen. His glasses were askew and somehow his shirt was misbuttoned, even if she'd definitely sent him off into the world properly dressed that morning. He leaned against the table and looked at the mannequin.

"You've made quite a bit of progress," he noted. He didn't sound as pleased about it as she was, or as excited as he usually was to see the things she made.

"Does it look alright?" Molly asked, straightening up and putting her hands on her hips to reassess her work nervously.

"Yes!" Arthur said quickly, eyes popping behind his glasses. "Yes, of course, it looks beautiful—all this detail and the lace and the… it's stunning, Molly, don't mind me, I didn't mean anything by it."

"Well something's on your mind," Molly said.

"Oh, it's nothing," Arthur said. The whistling kettle saved him and he swerved into the kitchen to refill the teapot. Still, he saw Molly's eyes on him when he turned back and sighed.

"It's nothing," he said. "I just… I was talking to someone from another department and they asked about the wedding planning, and I told them a little bit about it, and then they mentioned that it was unlucky to make your own wedding dress."

"Unlucky?" Molly scoffed. "Why on Earth would it be unlucky?"

"It's an old superstition," Arthur shrugged. "Still, she was surprised that you were making your own dress and…"

Arthur chewed on his lip. She gave him time to think through his words and spit them out.

"Molly, I know this internship isn't paying well and I know that that's going to be reflected in our wedding, but I don't know if I'll ever make much more, and I… I need to know that you're okay with having to make your own wedding dress."

"Of course I'm okay," she said, putting down the spool of thread she'd been holding and unwrapping the measuring tape from its resting place around her shoulder before going to him. She took his hand and squeezed, using her free hand to turn his head towards her to make him meet her eyes.

"Come here," she said, pulling him towards the mannequin where the white dress stood waiting.

She ran her fingers down the buttons on the back of the dress.

"I sewed these on while you were rehearsing your presentation about how important Muggle relations were going to be if the war continued to escalate, to keep them safe and us hidden," she said. She fingered the golden thread embroidered along the train, swirling across the white fabric. "And I stitched this while we were listening to the radio special that was on over Christmas. When I was working on this section of the skirt, you said I was working too hard and you did all the housework and cooking for the weekend. I think I finally got on your mother's good side when she saw me successfully make those stitches there..."

"She's being difficult, she secretly loves you," Arthur promised.

"It doesn't matter, because I love you," Molly said. "Because I do, the wedding and the superstitions don't matter because I'm here for the marriage. And every stitch in this dress is another _I love you. _Why would I want anything other than that amount of love?"

Arthur's smile was accompanied with some creases on his forehead that conveyed deep, deep relief. He squeezed the hand she hadn't let go of and gently tugged her towards him.

"I don't know what I did to deserve you," he mused, resting his cheek against her hair.

"Nothing, that's the _point _of love," Molly said. "It comes to you and with some loyalty and patience, it's there to stay."

"And some gold thread and tea," Arthur said. He kissed her hair. "Let me go get us a cup, love. I want you to explain to me how in the world you got that train to cooperate after all…"

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**Stacked with: **MC4A; Hogwarts; Shipping War

**Individual Challenge(s): **Cuppa; Clowder; Gryffindor MC (x2); Seeds; Brush; Marauder's Migraine; Old Shoes; Themes & Things A (Love); Themes & Things B (Prejudice); Themes & Things E (Dress/Skirt); Themes & Things F (Honesty); Rian-Russo Inversion; In a Flash; Two Cakes!;

**Word Count: **1029


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